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“Or perhaps they will fight harder,” Lady Mossi snapped, “and we will suffer greater casualties as a result.”
Gelsyne waved a dismissive hand at that. “There is a more pressing issue,” she said. “I spoke with the guard captain this morning, and it would seem that the draft is being met with resistance here in Talamh. An article appeared in the Talamh University’s student paper reporting on a student speaking out against the draft. I had the guards confiscate them all, of course, but the damage has been done.”
“You gave my guards orders, without consulting me first?” Lady Mossi stared at Gelsyne, shocked by her granddaughter’s audacity. “Where are these papers? I demand to see a copy.”
“I had them all burned.” Gelsyne took Lady Mossi’s hand, and once more, that strange, dark haze descended upon her mind again. “Grandmother, you don’t need to worry about the paper or what it said. But we do need to find the girl who is spreading these rumors. I had her friends arrested, but she herself has escaped. We cannot allow her to keep sowing dissent amongst the city folk.”
Lady Mossi frowned, trying to think past the fog in her mind. “Aren’t we only lending credibility by giving her so much attention? I’d think it would be best to ignore her.”
“I disagree,” Avani said. “We have to make an example of those who speak out against us. If there are no consequences, the other lesser fae will think it’s okay to rebel.”
“Yes, you’re right.” Anger flared in Lady Mossi at the thought of those impertinent lesser fae questioning her. After all the centuries she’d spent tirelessly leading and protecting them! Whoever this upstart girl was, she wouldn’t let her get away with her little rebellion. Turning away, she called a servant to her side. “Fetch the guard captain at once. I have orders for him.”
24
Einar
On my way back from the royal palace ruins, I made a pit stop at one of the primal stone mines to gather the stones Quye had requested. Unfortunately, the mine shaft had collapsed, making it impossible to dig for stones, so I was forced to travel to a second mine, then a third much farther out of the way before I finally found one safe enough to enter.
To my surprise, there were very few shadow creatures lurking in the mine shaft, and I cleared it with relative ease. The carts and pickaxes the miners had left behind were still in good condition, and I unearthed a good two dozen stones. They were roughly hewn, and I didn’t have the talent or the tools to cut or polish them, but that didn’t matter. They could still store magic, and that was all we needed.
Exhausted, I found a sack to store the primal stones in, then climbed out of the mines. Shock punched me in the gut when I saw that only a sliver of weak daylight lit the skies—I must have been down there longer than I realized.
“Blast it,” I swore. I shifted back into dragon form and flew toward the border as fast as I could, trying to outrace the dying sun. But even as the mountainous divide between Hearthfyre and the Gaoth Aire loomed closer, I realized I wouldn't make it. I was starving, my energy nearly depleted by a day full of flying, fighting, and mining.
It wasn’t safe to spend the night here, not without Adara and Quye to watch my back. But I needed to rest, at least for an hour, if I was to make it back over the border safely.
The last of the sunlight disappeared, replaced by the watery light of a full moon obscured by the thick layer of ashes clouding the sky. Normally, I flew high above the cloud cover so I wouldn’t have to breathe in the noxious fumes, but since I actually needed to see the landscape, I was forced to fly low. Anxious, I scanned the terrain, looking for a safe place to land before I was spotted.
This will have to do, I thought as I settled on a desolate, arid hill overlooking a plain. The hill was dotted with large boulders, but not large enough to hide a dragon, so I shifted back into bipedal form, then hunkered down between two of them, the sack of primal stones clutched to my chest.
I remained awake for a long while, my senses on high alert for shadow creatures. But as the minutes ticked by and nothing approached, I grew drowsy, my eyelids sliding to half-mast. Yawning, I leaned my head against the bolder, allowing my eyes to close.
I’ll just take a little catnap,I told myself.
And then I was asleep.
* * *
The wind howled around me as I trudged through snow, fighting against the raging snow storm as I headed toward Fheir, the town we'd traveled to for Tamil's funeral. The storm was so bad I could barely see more than three feet in front of me, but I pushed on, anxious to get back to Adara. I knew she was waiting for me—I could feel her through the bond, feel her fear and worry for me.
The ice fae town wasn’t far—I’d only left to go for a short walk in the woods—yet the journey seemed to stretch on forever, until my breath came in sharp pants and my legs trembled with exertion. I wished I could shift into dragon form, but it wasn’t safe to fly in these conditions, so I pushed on, struggling through the snow as the drifts piled higher and higher.
I’m so cold,I thought, my teeth chattering. I bundled my fur cloak around me tighter, trying to stay warm, but the cold seemed to penetrate my very bones. Even my inner fire could do nothing against it, which was extremely unusual. I could feel cold in my bipedal form, but this was worse than anything I’d ever experienced before. It was as if my blood were about to freeze over.
My stride grew sluggish, my limbs slowly giving into the frigid temperatures. A sense of desolation spread through me, opening an abyss wider and darker than even the one I’d felt after I’d sent my fellow dragons through the portal and sealed it shut, forever separating myself from them. I tried to force myself to move, tried to take another step, but my arms and legs refused to budge. It took everything I had just to stay upright.
“Einar…” a voice that sounded like Adara’s shouted, the words barely audible over the roar of the wind. At first, I thought it was my imagination, but the next shout was loud and clear, reverberating in my ears. “Einar, wake up!”
My eyes flew open, and I bolted upright. A horrified yell tore from my throat as I realized small, worm-like shadow creatures had attached themselves to every inch of my exposed skin, leeching the energy from my body. No wonder I was so cold! Swearing, I ripped the little bastards off me and stomped on them, crushing them into the dirt, then spent a frantic ten minutes yanking off my clothes and checking every inch of my body for more.
Only when I was sure there were no leeches left did I pull my clothes back onto my shivering body. The cold wasn’t just a figment of my dreams—those shadow creature leeches had drained my inner fire, robbing me of nearly all my strength. I was in even worse shape than I’d been when I’d laid down to take that nap in the first place.
“Idiot, idiot, idiot!” I swore, running down the hillside. If Adara hadn’t reached out and woken me through the bond, those leeches would have killed me. As it was, I didn’t have enough energy to shift into my dragon form, which meant I had to travel the rest of the way on foot.
If only I had Daryan’s cuff with me, I could have drawn on the primal stone to restore my energy. But I’d given it to Adara—who was its rightful owner—and the primal stones I carried now were all empty, useless trinkets with no power.
I’d nearly given up hope when the breeze shifted, and a familiar stench, one I hadn’t scented in a long time, reached my nostrils.
